America is in the Heart, written by Carlos Bulosan; known early on in the book as Allos, is an autobiography discussing his hard working and strenuous lifestyle in the Philippines. Fleeing to America to try and pursue his own dreams, he finds out that America isn’t just what he thought of it to be. Carlos has to struggle with his life there and faces many obstacles and challenges that hold him from his own dreams.
Allos’s family sold all of their land in Binalonan, Philippines to send his older brother Macario through high school. This monetary impact on their lives made them struggle with severe poverty. The result of their actions affected each and every one of their lives tremendously in the long run, inflicting constant hard work on their rigid lifestyles.
Allos -or Carlos- grew up on the countryside of Binalonan with his father. He had a mother and many other siblings; majority of them boys, but they lived separate from him and his father. He worked at a very young age on his family’s land of eight hectares. He grew crops and harvested them also. Everybody worked in his family. From his father to him to even his little sisters that you learn about later on in the book. However, they did not work to make a sum of money for themselves. On the contrary, they put all of their money together to send Allos’ brother, Macario through high school.
“Macario, who was next to him, was a student at the high school in Lingayen, the capital of the province of Pangasinan. It was for Macario that we were working so hard, so that he could come back to Binalonan to teach school and, perhaps, to help us support our large family…”-(pg.10) ¶ 2
The entire family was working relentlessly, just so that only one person in their gargantuate family could finish school and bring some money to their poor table. They worked day and night and night and day. Each year that Macario went to school, they buckled down and went to their labor, hoping that their hard efforts would be rewarded in the end with some form of success from Macario.
“It was the beginning of another school year, and my brother Macario, who was in Binalonan for a month’s vacation, was ready to return. He needed money to continue his studies, but we had nothing to give him. He stayed on for two more weeks, losing that time in his studies. My father began to worry; then one day he went to town with the deed to our land.” (pg.14) ¶ 1

Macario came back every year before school started to visit his family and to congregate all the money that his family made to pay for his studies. However, his family had no more money to pay for the expenses of his education. His reaction to the situation was to simply stay home. Knowing that his family would fear that he would not go back to school, they would find some way to give him the money that was due for his studies. They would have to, or else he would not be able to go back hence, all of their previous money that they put into his education would have been a waste.
“My father sold one hectare of our land and gave the money to my brother Macario. Then we worked even harder on the farm, and sometimes we planted beans between the rows to make use of time and space. My mother also worked harder, going around the villages with a large earthen jar of salted fish and a bamboo tube of salt. The peasants had no money but they gave my mother chickens, eggs, and beans, and these she sold in the public market for a few centavos.” (pg.14) ¶ 4
In this book, it seems that out of all people in Allos’ family, his father wants Macario to finish high school the most. Every time Macario needs anything, mostly money, his father is always the one to make the decisions on where and how the money would come from and where they would get it from. In this statement made by Allos, it makes it known that they are constantly working harder and harder, trying to make ends meet with Macario’s studies and their poverty.
In some ways, it seems as if Macario, in some way, is controlling his family. Sometimes it even seems as if his family wants him to graduate more than he himself does.
“We had deprived ourselves of any form of leisure and simple luxury so that my brother could finish high school. But even then he kept asking for more money, threatening that he would stop if we did not send him enough, the thought that he would really stop terrified us.” (pg. 14) ¶ 5
The way that his family bereaves themselves from the fun things in life and simple lavishness that they deserve for all of their hard work shows great care and dedication, don’t you think? On the other hand, Macario is wrongful for even attempting to threaten his family after all they have done for him. They have sold land, just so that he could go to school, everybody in the family is working to their full potential to make some money. All I see Macario doing is coming around when he needs money and leaving once he gets it.
“He gave my father more money and got the deed to another hectare. The stipulation was that after a certain period of time we would pay back the money and thus retrieve the land; but in the event that we could not pay the moneylender, we automatically lost ownership of our land. Oddly enough, we were not bothered by this usurious arrangement. We were waiting for the day when my brother Macario would teach school and pay back the moneylender.” (pg. 15) ¶ 1
Allos’ family amazed me in this autobiography. They remained completely optimistic about the entire situation. Even though they were giving up their land and almost everything they rightfully owned, they were sure that their son and to some, brother, were going to become a teacher and pay back the moneylender. But, what if? What if Macario did not pay back the moneylender? What if he never came back to his family? All of these allegations I made against Macario could have happened, but not once did his family think of this.
The Bulosan family was down to their last centavos and had barely any land left.
“Two hundred pesos?” said my mother, rising slightly from where she sat on the floor. “You might as well ask for two thousand pesos.” “Don’t you have it?” asked my brother, looking at my father and then at my mother. “Can’t you do anything at all? Can’t you sell some more land? “We have only one hectare left, son,” said my mother, trying desperately to make my brother understand our poverty with futile movements of her hands. Can’t you sell this house?” (pg.22) ¶ 2
This conversation held between Macario, his mother and his father was surprising. After giving up all of the money that they had ever earned and most of their land, it just was not enough. Could Macario not see that his family was doing all that they could do? Couldn’t Macario see that by taking the last of their land that they would have nothing? The most head-turning statement was “Can’t you do anything at all?” but when he asks that of his parents they fail to ask him the same question.
Macario was an excellent student, but not so much a excellent child. He asked of too much without giving anything. He never volunteered to help; he never showed sympathy for his struggling family. All he did was take from his family… and a simple ‘thank you’ would have been nice to get thrown into the mix every once in a while.